This image made from an undated family video shows JonBenet Ramsey performing during a beauty pageant. A former schoolteacher was arrested Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2006 in Thailand in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen Ramsey. Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the suspect as John Mark Karr, a 42-year-old American. (AP Photo/Ramsey family video)

One of the most disturbing scenes in the film "Little Miss Sunshine" was the beauty pageant, where little girls made up to look sexy strutted down the runway with swaying hips and pouting expressions. The protagonist, 7-year-old Olive, was painfully out of place, with her round belly and awkward moves, because she looked and acted like a little girl -- despite her grandfather's racy choreography. Movie viewers, like Olive's family, were disturbed by the way the pageant sexualized young girls, and we were happy to leave it behind and head back home.

In the real world, however, the sexualization of girls isn't confined to beauty pageants. Signs of it are everywhere: On a t-shirt for a 6-year-old girl that proclaims her a "Little Hottie;" on dolls that sport fishnet stockings, bare midriffs and platform shoes; and in a music video that shows busty women performing sexy dances while dressed in Brownie uniforms.

These examples of products and media images that sexualize girls and girlhood are part of a widespread phenomenon that has led to concern on the part of parents and child advocacy organizations. In response to these concerns, the American Psychological Association has formed a committee to evaluate and summarize all available research pertaining to the sexualization of girls. The research results, released last week, are sobering.

In virtually every form of media that has been studied, including television, movies, the Internet, magazines, advertising and sports media, women and girls are sexualized and objectified. They wear revealing clothing, are portrayed as decorative objects and are referred to with sexualized and demeaning labels such as "bimbos," "hos," or (in the case of the 1999 World Champion U.S. women's soccer team) "booters with hooters."

The problem isn't one particular doll, or song or hypersexualized young heiress. The problem is that girls today are swimming in a veritable sea of toxic messages about what it means to be female.

This sexualization is often reinforced by the people closest to girls. Parents sometimes praise daughters for their beauty instead of their accomplishments. Teachers may assume that "attractive" girls are more competent than their plain counterparts. Sexual harassment is a regular part of the school day for many girls, where they are subjected to sexual jokes or inappropriate touching from male peers.

Sexualization has serious consequences. When girls internalize the messages around them, they are more likely to have low self-esteem, feel ashamed of their bodies, suffer from depression and eating disorders, take up smoking and have unprotected sex. Even their ability to think clearly and do well on math and logic problems suffers when their attention is focused on how they look. In other words, sexualization contributes to some of the most serious problems facing adolescent girls today.

There may be consequences for society as well. If pop culture is saturated with images in which girls are sexualized, will we begin to project adult sexual desires onto children? Will we come to believe that children want to have sex with adults, thus making child sexual abuse seem "normal" and perhaps increasing the demand for child prostitution?

Girls deserve better, and parents and concerned adults have begun grassroots campaigns to counteract sexualization. Last year, a letter-writing campaign organized by Dads and Daughters and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood led to the cancellation of a line of dolls based on the Pussycat Dolls, a musical group known for their sexualized clothing and lyrics. We must continue to urge manufacturers and media producers to replace sexualized images of girls with images that present girls and young women as active, competent individuals, who have their own goals, desires and dreams.

Schools can help, too. Media literacy training programs help children to become active and critical interpreters of media messages, rather than passive consumers. These programs should be available to all middle-school students.

Finally, parents can talk with their daughters and let them know they are loved and valued for who they are, rather than for how they look.

The problem of sexualization is serious, but not insurmountable. It's up to us to do whatever it takes to provide girls with a healthier environment, one in which they can grow and develop as well-rounded people encouraged to explore all of life's possibilities.